Original sponsors of
The CIEH Model Licence
for boarding catteries

Timber?

There may always be a demand for timber catteries, mainly due to price considerations.

However, we believe timber is a false economy, as timber is comparatively short-lived and requires regular, expensive & time consuming maintenance, which may involve the use of toxic treatments.

PVCu is non-toxic & requires no maintenance to protect against weather conditions.

PVCu is impervious to known diseases and will help in the fight against the spread of feline infections.

It is for these reasons that we choose to manufacture catteries using PVCu - in the interest of cat welfare.

(Timber infected with ringworm requires drastic action - i.e. the infected housing unit must be totally destroyed by burning).

To this end, we sponsored the CIEH (Chartered Institute of Environmental Health) to produce a guide for safe, practical & comfortable feline accommodation. This is the standard that your local authority will be measuring your cattery against.

Additionally, some local Environmental Health Departments have introduced a policy of banning the use of exposed timber in any part of a boarding cattery - they realise that we must tackle the spread of feline diseases as a matter of priority. Examples:

• North Warwickshire Borough Council Animal Boarding Establishments Act which in Condition 5 states:
  
  "Exposed wood will not be permitted even if regularly decorated."
  
  A representative from their Regulatory Division made this statement in September 2005:
  
  "The main reason we have this condition is that we feel that wood, even if regularly decorated, can not be properly cleaned and disinfected and is one way of cross infection between animals."

• St Albans City & District Council Licence Conditions which in Condition 6 states:
  
  "The use of wood must be avoided on surface structures of accommodation and exercise area interiors of existing accommodation and must not be used for repairs or new accommodation."

• Yet another example from a veterinary surgeon who is the licensing officer responsible for five local authorities made this statement in June 2008:
  
  "My recommendation is that wood is to be avoided in the construction of boarding catteries. Not only because of disease spreading between the cats, but also on Zoonotic grounds (diseases communicable to humans, for example ringworm and E.coli)"